Rates mixed at weekly US Treasury bill auction

WASHINGTON (AP) – Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday’s auction with rates on three-month bills declining to their lowest level since mid-December while six-month bills rose to their highest level in more than nine years.

The Treasury Department auctioned $48 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.425 percent, down from 1.430 percent last week. Another $42 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 1.625 percent, up from 1.615 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the lowest since those bills averaged 1.355 percent on Dec. 18. The six-month rate was the highest since those bills averaged 1.800 percent on Oct. 20, 2008.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,963.98 while a six-month bill sold for $9,917.85. That would equal an annualized rate of 1.450 percent for the three-month bills and 1.661 percent for the six-month bills.

Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, rose to 1.80 percent last Thursday, up slightly from 1.79 percent on Jan. 19.

Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk